hi folks

planning a 2500km ride in August , for last 8 years we had 5 at the most , this year we have 10 riders , i know it makesit slower going with gas and pit stops for sure , i was thinking of breaking into 2 groups of 5 ? appreciate any feedback on that , its only a 4 day trip - 5 at most .

 

Set some rules before the trip. Anybody wants to shop, they're on their own. Broken bike, you will help get them to safety but the layup is on their own time. Designate one person to be the Road Captain and he calls the kickstands up at all stops. All stragglers are on their own.

 

good suggestions thanks

 

Make sure everyone has the route and daily destination agenda, as said above, if they want to break off and shop, dilly dally, or have bike issues they have to all know ahead of time the rules and expectations. A road captain calls the shots and paces the ride, as long as everyone has the agenda and route they can catch up on their own or divert to an interstate and make up time as needed while the rest of the group stay the course.

 

Great question mate.

Strongly suggest 2 groups. It will be SAFER.

Not judging at all but 1500km in 4-5 days is not covering a load of miles per day. But that is FINE if u are pulling over a lot looking at scenery, getting a late start, bedding down early, etc.... There is NO right or wrong here. All depends upon the intent of the ride. Which brings up a LOAD of other questions but none that you asked.

2 groups is what I strongly suggest.

BuzzCap7

 

Good suggestions here. Every April I captain a ride of about 20 bikes. We have riders in the center of the group and a sweep rider using CBs to keep everyone together. Every rider is given a basic itinerary so they know where the next food or sightseeing stop is. The group I ride with does this once a month April through October. This month we met up in Bryson City, NC to ride the Dragon, next month it's Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Since we come from all over we ride to the venues in smaller groups or solo and then ride together at the destination area for a day or two.

 

Don't be stupid
I ride alone because of group stupid
Establish rules
2 groups of 5
Allow space!
Groups10 minutes apart
Leader must ride 5mph over the number
Do not create rolling road blocks because you think you are special as you are not.
Pull over if you are impeding the flow if traffic!!!
Don't be stupid, i have seen too much stupid
2 at a time thru stop signs.
Loud pipes suck
Talk about deer
Gas station protocol
Do not assume

 

At a minimum go with 2 groups of 5....10 is way too many over a long ride.Might even split up into 3 groups(3,3,&4)

 

Know your fellow riders........ One rider, can ruin a ride of 4 or a ride of 40...

Make sure you know what is expected of you, and be ready to follow the rules.....

I rode in a group of 80 riders around Yosemite back in the mid '80s.... Everything went incredibly well... but everybody was disciplined, knew the rules, and knew there were no exceptions... big groups CAN be fun... but in my experience that is the exception to the rule..

I rode from SoCal to NorCal in a group of 5 riders... one guy was extremely undisciplined, had a totally different concept of a group ride than the other 4. Until the 4 of us, decided to just ride our ride, and ignore #5 (which by the way, he didn't even realize), he made the ride a lot of work, and more dangerous for the rest of us.

These days, with the exception of 2 or 3 guys I've ridden with for years.... I go my own way....

 

I wouldn't hesitate to captain a group of 10. I would lead, make sure everyone has the stops and final stop for the day. If they want to straggle, that is ok. But I would try to keep them together. Everyone had each others cell numbers. Second most experienced is the sweeper. I've captained rides for up to 25 people. Not as long as yours though. Good luck.